They stopped scoring: Brewers 5, Phillies 3

After the Phillies’ offense came to life late on Friday night, they were lively early on Saturday. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to sustain that scoring, and the Brewers overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat the Phillies 5-3.

The game started off well enough. Back-to-back doubles by Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos scored a run in the first inning, and in the second, Jean Segura drove in a run with a single, and Castellanos plated another with a sacrifice fly.

Last year, with Zack Wheeler on the mound, a 3-0 lead felt secure. But this isn’t 2021, and Wheeler still hasn’t completely worked his way into shape after a delayed start to his Spring Training. In the early innings, Wheeler looked to be in top form. Coming off a start where he had disturbingly low velocity, Wheeler was throwing in the upper 90s, and for the most part, was locating his pitches well.

Unfortunately, the fifth inning didn’t go his way. The Brewers weren’t hitting the ball especially hard, but sometimes you don’t have to.

A series of singles tied the game up, and then the Brewers took the lead in an unconventional manner:

A one-run deficit shouldn’t be a huge problem for the Phillies’ offense, but after the third inning, they only managed three hits, and two of those were erased by double plays.

There will be days when an early lead will be enough to win a game, but that didn’t happen on Saturday, and really, that’s not how this team was designed. They’re supposed to score early runs, and then some more in the middle innings, and then top it off with some insurance runs in the late innings.

The teams will be back at it on Sunday. Maybe the Phillies can find a way to sustain their offense throughout the entire game. Otherwise, there’s a good chance that the Brewers will be leaving town with a series win under their belts.